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Fire steel question
- Thread starter chazbo88
- Start date
- Joined
- May 19, 2005
- Messages
- 12,709
They should last for thousands of fires, assuming you don't abuse them. The one thing to look out for is that they can rust quite easily, so you want to protect them (clear fingernail polish is sometimes recommended) if you store them in a wet climate.
If you haven't seen it, I recently started a thread on starting fires with firesteels. There's tons of excellent links and tips in the follow on comments to that.
The real question isn't "which firesteel?" Rather, the real question is "which tinder?"
If you haven't seen it, I recently started a thread on starting fires with firesteels. There's tons of excellent links and tips in the follow on comments to that.
The real question isn't "which firesteel?" Rather, the real question is "which tinder?"
I can't give a specific figure for how long they last, but I can tell you that they last a long, looong time. I'd conservatively estimate that I've started well over a thousand fires with mine, and it has enough material left for at least several times that many, again.
Mike
Mike
That's the Swedish Military Firesteel. It's what I keep on my keychain, for regular use, for practice, and for tests and experiments.
I also have a 1/2"x4" ferro rod in my PSK. It's several times larger, in terms of amount of material, and would last much longer.
Mike
I also have a 1/2"x4" ferro rod in my PSK. It's several times larger, in terms of amount of material, and would last much longer.
Mike
RokJok
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2000
- Messages
- 4,254
It is definitely true about Firesteels rusting. I had one that looked okay on the outside. When I went to use it, it broke off just inside the handle/rod junction. The break area had crumbly gray crud on the surface of much of the surface. Obviously some moisture had crept into a gap in the joint of the two parts and chewed away at the iron in the rod. I cleaned up the mating surfaces and epoxied it back in place.
LESSON: test your equipment!!! Had the break occured during a true "do or die" situation, it would have impaired (but not prevented) use of the Firesteel.
Besides nail polish, another way to keep damp air away from the ferrocium rod is to sheath it in plastic/vinyl/surgical tubing. The downside of tubing is that when you want to use the ferro rod you have to remove the tubing first by slipping it off (which can be difficult) or cutting it off. On most of my ferro rods I use both -- nail polish the rod, then slip on some tubing -- since those rods are scattered in kits that are back-ups on standby status. Hence the protection offered by the tubing outweighs the potential difficulty of removing it when I finally use the ferro rods.
An interesting observation that has been made regarding Firesteels and rust:
a Firesteel carried around in a pocket and getting used (not in the pocket
) doesn't seem to rust. It is when they are sitting in storage that they corrode. I suspect that the fabric inside the pocket constantly rubbing the rod is polishing off any crud that might form on the surface of the rod.
LESSON: test your equipment!!! Had the break occured during a true "do or die" situation, it would have impaired (but not prevented) use of the Firesteel.
Besides nail polish, another way to keep damp air away from the ferrocium rod is to sheath it in plastic/vinyl/surgical tubing. The downside of tubing is that when you want to use the ferro rod you have to remove the tubing first by slipping it off (which can be difficult) or cutting it off. On most of my ferro rods I use both -- nail polish the rod, then slip on some tubing -- since those rods are scattered in kits that are back-ups on standby status. Hence the protection offered by the tubing outweighs the potential difficulty of removing it when I finally use the ferro rods.
An interesting observation that has been made regarding Firesteels and rust:
a Firesteel carried around in a pocket and getting used (not in the pocket
) doesn't seem to rust. It is when they are sitting in storage that they corrode. I suspect that the fabric inside the pocket constantly rubbing the rod is polishing off any crud that might form on the surface of the rod.
For about $12 you can buy a Strike Force. It has a 2 1/4" x 1/2" ferro rod. Put the ferro rod part in a vice and pull the plastic handle off. It is held in place by friction only. It is a good size for pocket carry. You will get more sparks per dollar from this ferro rod than any other.
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2001
- Messages
- 140
like Craig_PHX I pulled the steel out a strike force tool. little epoxy and a antler end and its a nice tool with out the bulk of the case it comes in.